DX LISTENING DIGEST 5-127, August 1, 2005 Incorporating REVIEW OF INTERNATIONAL BROADCASTING edited by Glenn Hauser, http://www.worldofradio.com Items from DXLD may be reproduced and re-reproduced only if full credit be maintained at all stages and we be provided exchange copies. DXLD may not be reposted in its entirety without permission. Materials taken from Arctic or originating from Olle Alm and not having a commercial copyright are exempt from all restrictions of noncommercial, noncopyrighted reusage except for full credits For restrixions and searchable 2005 contents archive see http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldmid.html NOTE: If you are a regular reader of DXLD, and a source of DX news but have not been sending it directly to us, please consider yourself obligated to do so. Thanks, Glenn NEXT AIRINGS OF WORLD OF RADIO 1282: Mon 1800 WOR RFPI [repeated 4-hourly thru 1400 Tue] Tue 1600 WOR WBCQ after hours Tue 2330 WOR WBCQ 7415 [occasional] Wed 0930 WOR WWCR 9985 Wed 1600 WOR WBCQ after hours Latest edition of this schedule version, with hotlinks to station sites and audio, is at: http://www.worldofradio.com/radioskd.html WRN ON DEMAND: http://new.wrn.org/listeners/stations/station.php?StationID=24 OUR ONDEMAND AUDIO [also CONTINENT OF MEDIA, MUNDO RADIAL]: http://www.worldofradio.com/audiomid.html WORLD OF RADIO 1282 (high version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1282h.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1282h.rm WORLD OF RADIO 1282 (low version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1282.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1282.rm (summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1282.html WORLD OF RADIO 1282 in true SW sound of Alex`s mp3: (stream) http://www.dxprograms.net/worldofradio_07-27-05.m3u (download) http://www.dxprograms.net/worldofradio_07-27-05.mp3 WORLD OF RADIO 1282 downloads in studio-quality mp3: (high) http://www.obriensweb.com/wor1282h.mp3 (low) http://www.obriensweb.com/wor1282.mp3 WORLD OF RADIO PODCAST: www.obriensweb.com/wor.xml (currently available: 1277, Extra 57, 1278, 1279, 1280, Extra 58, 1281, soon 1282) CONTINENT OF MEDIA 05-07 from DXing.com: (stream) http://www.dxing.com/com/com0507.ram (download) http://www.dxing.com/com0507.rm (summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/com0507.html [soon] DX PROGRAMS, August 2 edition by John Norfolk: http://www.worldofradio.com/dxpgms.html ** BOLIVIA. Re 5-126, Virgen de Remedios on 5745v: Hi Glenn! A surprise; I have heard the station with fair strength some times thereafter but thought it was a spur from some USA station. The mother of Jesús has many names, for example "María de los Remedios" meaning that María (= Virgen) has the "medicine" you need (I cannot explain it better in English) 73s (Björn Malm, Quito, Ecuador, DX LISTENING DIGEST) In that case the cognate ``remedy`` would be the best sense (gh, DXLD) ** BURMA [non]. Democratic Voice of Burma, 5910 fair at 1429-1530 UT via Almaty: opened with DVB instrumental theme music and closed with vocal and band anthem at 1529*. 17625 good via Talata at 1429-1527* (Wendel Craighead, Bao Loc, Lam Dong, Vietnam, DXplorer July 29 via BCDX via DXLD) See DX-PEDITIONS below ~~~~~ for background ** CANADA [non non?]. The IC-756 is set on 50.107 for CY0AA, a dxpedition to Sable Island. Sable Island is but a sliver of a sand bar, located roughly 130 miles ESE of Halifax, Nova Scotia. It is about 25 miles long and one mile wide at its widest point. I need it for a new DXCC "entity" on 6m. I "think" it's considered a separate entity because it's not part of any province. (Too bad they didn't swing their antenna stateside yesterday when the band was open... Zilch today so far.) 73, (Jeff Kadet, Macomb, IL, August 1, WTFDA via DXLD) Jeff, Sable Island is part of Halifax County, Nova Scotia. It's known for its wild horses. The weather station there is now automated - so there are no permanent inhabitants (Bill Hepburn, ON, ibid.) I didn't know horses could swim that well... ARRL has really diluted the DXCC Award, in my opinion, by counting places like Sable Island as a separate "entity". Another Canadian island, Saint Paul Island, is considered to be another "entity". St. Paul Island lies in The Cabot Strait, about 15 miles from the Northern tip of Nova Scotia, and about 44 miles from Newfoundland. It takes about 2 hours by boat to reach St. Paul Island from Bay St. Lawrence, Nova Scotia. Back when I started we never even referred to DXCC "entities". It was DXCC "countries". The word "entity" also sounds silly. If Sable Island is part of Nova Scotia as Bill says, how can ARRL count this with a straight face? End of rant (Jeff Kadet, ibid.) St. Paul Island is part of Victoria County, Nova Scotia. Sounds like the ARRL is intent on fattening up the number of target countries (Bill Hepburn, ibid.) entities Agreed. And, if Sable counts, why not Sicily (among others)? It has its own prefix (IT) and everything. And, on the same subject 4U1ITU counts as a DXCC, but 4U1WB does not. It's a bit arbitrary, I think. But, the rules are the rules, I suppose. It's just a bit confusing (Peter Baskind, J.D., LL.M. N4LI Germantown, TN/EM55, ibid.) Used to be ARRL had a 50-mile distance from the country the island belonged to (Russ Edmunds, Blue Bell, PA, ibid.) ** CANADA [and non]. A few words about Newsworld International, the CBC-programmed news service that went dark as we were going to press Sunday night. (Its channel space was purchased by a group led by Al Gore, which is relaunching the channel as "Current.") NWI never had a very big audience in the U.S., in part because it was carried mainly on obscure digital cable tiers, but it was always a refreshingly serious and un-flashy alternative to the increasingly tarted-up U.S. cable news channels, and it went out with as much class as ever, giving its staffers a full half-hour Sunday night to say their farewells. We're big fans here at NERW of the CBC's solid news coverage, and we hope it finds a new venue south of the border for its programming soon (Scott Fybush, NE Radio Watch August 1 via DXLD) I still don`t quite get it --- why NWI had to go to make way for Current (gh, DXLD) AL GORE'S NEW CABLE TV CHANNEL LAUNCHES TODAY A new cable TV channel headed by former US Vice President Al Gore hopes to draw twentysomethings looking for news, information and features produced by young adults for young adults. Current TV, of which Gore is chairman, will launch today in 20 million US cable and satellite households in place of 24-hour news channel Newsworld International. About 25% of the content will be produced by viewers, much of it submitted over the Internet using new, cheaper video and editing technology; all of it will be in short three- to seven-minute "pods" of content on topics including youth culture in Iran, parenting and spirituality. "We want to be the television home page for the Internet generation," said Gore. What Gore and his young staff are trying is an innovative blend of content and advertising that will merge high- and low-tech video along with advertiser-sponsored spots and three minutes of longform advertisements every hour. It wants to have a heavy Internet component, allowing viewers to vote on what they want to see on the channel as well as serve as a two-way conduit between viewers and programers. It's not a news network, though there is a collaboration with the search engine Google that provides reports every half hour on what Google users are looking for in popular culture and the issues of the day. "At its core, Current TV will be a place where 18- to 34-year-olds can tune in to see what's going on in their world," said Laura Ling, who will appear on air and manage enterprise video journalism for Current. Ling has been a producer for Channel One News and has worked for ABC's "Nightline," PBS and NBC. While early stories about the channel highlighted Gore's role in the network, the former presidential candidate said there's no political tilt to Current. "I think the reality of the network will speak for itself. It's not intended to be partisan in any way, not ideological in any way," Gore said. Current TV http://www.current.tv [which is not in Tuvalu] # posted by Andy @ 10:40 UT August 1 (Media Network blog via DXLD) ** CHINA. Yunnan Broadcasting Station, 6035 kHz at 1000-1103 UT in Vietnamese: frequent mention of Vietnam; also Vietnamese traditional and pop music. Voice of Pujiang, 3280 very poor, and \\ 4950 almost completely covered by a tone, at 1156-1236 UT: on suddenly at 1156 with slow instrumental; 1200 Chinese bamboo marimba/xylophone; "po tiantai" ID by woman; almost entirely talk by men and woman. Guangxi Foreign Broadcasting Station, 9820 excellent at 1400-1436 UT: 1400 a man gave ID in Mandarin "po tiantai"; then a woman gave Vietnamese ID, "Day la dai", and the rest was in Vietnamese with many mentions of Vietnam; 1416 brief bit of Hoedown from Rodeo by Aaron Copeland (Wendel Craighead, Bao Loc, Lam Dong-VTN, DXplorer July 29 via BCDX via DXLD) ** CHINA [non]. Voice of Kuanghua, 9745 fair at 0655-0733 UT in Mandarin: 0655 ID by a woman; vocal [woman] and instrumental Republic of China anthem, the same as used by Radio Taiwan International, San Min Chul [The Rights of the People]; talking and pop music; several IDs "po tiantai Kuanghua" (Wendel Craighead, Bao Loc, Lam Dong, Vietnam, DXplorer July 29 via BCDX via DXLD) ** CHINA [non]. Taiwan? Sound of Hope Radio International, 7310 fair to strong in Mandarin at 1300 UT on June 11 and several other days but even when strong it was unreadable due to a CNR jam in the same language, sometimes with an echo suggesting 2 different transmitter sites: 1300 man and woman spoke; then instrumental music. Occasionally heard under the jammer (Wendel Craighead, Bao Loc, Lam Dong, Vietnam, DXplorer July 29 via BCDX via DXLD) ** CHINA [and non]. Radio Free Asia: I checked all the frequencies for all Radio Free Asia broadcasts to Southeast Asia, checking some of the broadcasts on several days, and reception was usually good to excellent on most frequencies. My location was of course right in the Vietnam target area and was only about 50 miles from Kampuchea, 200 miles from Laos, and 500 miles from the nearest point of Myanmar. Reception of broadcasts in Korean was also good on most frequencies. But it was a totally different story with broadcasts to China. My longest good logging was about 30 seconds, just long enough for the RFA theme music and English ID. Then the jammer came on. And in many cases the jammer was there long before the RFA programs began. Now almost all jamming consists of China National Radio broadcasts. In a few instances I heard the Chinese traditional instrumental music which was previously used to jam RFA. And in a few cases both CNR and the music jammer were in use on the same frequency. Sometimes CNR was heard with an echo over RFA, as well as other broadcasters, apparently the result of broadcasting the same program from two widely separated transmitter sites. If I understood Mandarin I probably could have separated RFA from CNR. The broadcasts in Tibetan and Uyghur were a little easier to follow since those langs sound very different from the Mandarin of CNR. I heard jamming not just against RFA but also covering just about every Chinese and Tibetan-language service I checked: Voice of China, Voice of Tibet, Sound of Hope, VOA, BBC via SNG, Deutsche Welle, etc. (Wendel Craighead, Bao Loc, Lam Dong, Vietnam, DXplorer July 29 via BCDX via DXLD) ** COLOMBIA [non]. Hola Glenn, Saludos desde Catia La Mar, VENEZUELA. Corrección a un texto aparecido en inglés en el DXLD 5-123, que se leía así: "(...)Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar y Palacios, the supreme independence hero of the republics of Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, Perú and Venezuela, was born on a day like today in 1783 in Santa Marta (¡! oh my god!) (SIC), in Greater Colombia. Source: AIN news agency, Havana, in Spanish 25 Jul 05 (via BBCM via DXLD) WTFK in Cuba???(...)". Simón Bolívar nació en CARACAS. Sin duda, es un error IMPERDONABLE de la redactora de la nota. 73s y buen DX (Adán González, Catia La Mar, VENEZUELA, August 1, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** COSTA RICA. Just returned from short weekend visit to my Province of Limón and on the way to Puerto Viejo you have to pass on the outskirts of North Cahuita where (former Radio Impacto and AWR) DGS antennas and towers are well maintained and give a nice view for DXers. For those who once tuned Radio Casino's 5954 from Puerto Limón, they're gone I'm afraid this time for good. They just made a slight change from 1200 to 1220 and replaced the SW outlet with 98.3 that covers well most of Tiquicia's (Tee-KEE-seea) Atlantic Zone. Even their English nighttime slot is gone: I heard them on both AM and FM frecuencies with tropical nostalgia boleros like Sonora Matancera's "Destino Fatal". Regards (Raúl Saavedra, Costa Rica, August 1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) see also NIGER ** COSTA RICA [non]. Attention all you Podcast fans --- RFPI is preparing to offer its daily programming as a podcast. But first, we need your feedback on some technical issues. Please take a moment to participate in a survey developed for the project. http://www.rfpionline.org/modules.php?name=Surveys&pollID=9 The more responses we receive, the better we'll be able to gauge your needs. Need some background information on this new rage sweeping the internet? Visit WikipediA or iPodder (from http://www.rfpi.org August 2 via DXLD) ** EGYPT. QSL Policy --- Re: Adán González's question in DXLD 5-121. I sent a report to Radio Cairo at the end of December 2004 by email and received a reply in 24 hours to say they would QSL. They also requested I monitor Arabic to Australia in our morning. I sent a report on this as well by email. At the end of March, 2005 I received QSL cards for both reports - exactly 3 months after the initial report. Maybe they have lost Adán's report (Wayne Bastow, Wyoming, NSW, Australia, August 1, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ERITREA [non]. Voice of Liberty - Eritrea, 15675 at 0600-0700 via Samara fair signal but splatter from China way up on 15685 kHz on 1 June: 0600 on with instrumental anthem; talking by a man and Horn of Africa vocal (man) and instrumentals; presumed Tigrigna until 0630, then Arabic; 0700 transmitter off (Wendel Craighead, Bao Loc, Lam Dong, Vietnam, DXplorer July 29 via BCDX via DXLD) ** ETHIOPIA [non]. Radio Mustaqbal, 15530 at 0630-0659* UT via Dhabbaya, UAE, fair in Somali on several days: Horn of Africa vocal and instrumental music; talking with occasional very brief musical glissandos up and down; 0656* a man said, "EDC.USAID" 0657* silence (Wendel Craighead, Bao Loc, Lam Dong, Vietnam, DXplorer July 29 via BCDX via DXLD) ** GERMANY. If like me, you usually miss DW`s underpublicized English DX program, because it is only monthly on the last Sunday, is a sub- program, and of course not broadcast to North America on SW, note that you can retrieve it for perhaps a week following by going to audio on demand page http://www.dw-world.de/dw/0,1595,4703,00.html# and clicking on Mailbag and then skipping to 42 minutes into the file for ten minutes of the ``World DX Meeting``; at least that is the case currently with #182. The Mailbag is tagged as 02.08 but announced in the opening as the final week in July. Wolfram was doing the carefully scripted show himself, whilst Uwe was on holiday. Still talking about ham radio in the zunami catastrophe; degraded signal on DW`s 6140 frequency due to a coronal hole. Concluded with some DX news from our contributor in Bangladesh, ``M.D.`` actually Md. For Mohammed, I think, Azizul Alam Al-Amin, about RVA in Urdu, BBC Burmese & Nepali, which is not of too much use if you speak English rather than Urdu, Burmese or Nepali. BTW ``76`` means `the Lord bless you``, among his characteristic numerical goodbyes. Says the show is on all Sunday English broadcasts of DW, with the final airing each month on UT Monday after 0800, so this time that was actually in August (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GUATEMALA. Hola Glenn, Saludos desde Catia La Mar, VENEZUELA. Luego de varios días fuera del aire, fue reactivada Radio Verdad en los 4052.46 kHz, este 27/07. Escuchada a las 0345 UT con fuerte señal. Sin embargo, el fuerte ruido de las líneas de alta tensión no me dejó escuchar la programación. 73s y buen DX (Adán González, Catia La Mar, VENEZUELA, August 1, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Radio Verdad, Chiquimula, que transmite en 4052.5, estuvo fuera del aire aproximadamente 13 días, ente el 14 y el 27 de Julio, debido a que una tormenta dañó sus antenas. El día 27 y sucesivos, la reporté, en Reinante, Mar Cantábrico, pero con señal más débil de lo normal; parecía como si no estuviera trabajando a plena potencia, que de por sí ya es baja, 0.7 kW aproximadamente. Pues bién, ahora acabo de ver en Jihad DX que el colega David Valko recibió un mail del director de la emisora, comunicándole que habían logrado poner la emisora en marcha con solo 0.25 kW de potencia. Parece increible que, por aquí, con esa potencia tan escasa, se escuche prácticamente todos los días, eso sí, con señal bastante más débil que antes cuando lo hacía con 0.7 kW. Esto es lo que dice el colega David Valko en Jihad DX: "GUATEMALA, 4052.47, R. Verdad. Got another e-mail from Dr Édgar Madrid earlier in the week. Says "Thanks God, I was able to put on the air one module, and I am transmitting with only 250 watts temporarily." Also went on to say that other transistors failed elsewhere and that he'll need assistance from someone more experienced. So for the time-being, Verdad is on the air with only 250 watts making it a more difficult catch. (30 July) 73's Dave" Un saludo para todos (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, España, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. End of an Ear [sic] --- With the news that All India Radio will allegedly soon be discontinuing its external services, it seemed an apropos time to post another segment from last week's Un Bruit Indien session. Here's a dreamy, mellifluous number for reeds, tabla, and sitar: like Anouar Brahem smoking up the Thievery Corporation in an opium den. Phantom Reed Song http://www.mykeweiskopf.com/swmusic/41_india.mp3 All India Radio 7/17/2005, 13605 kHz (2023 UTC) posted by shortwavemusic at 13:28 (Shortwave Music August 1 via DXLD) ** INDIA. RADIO TO THE RESCUE IN MUMBAI --- TUNING IN, TO THE PEOPLE July 29, Source: The Economic Times FM radio proved its worth when everything else seemed to be drowning. It provided a vital link - offering information, relaying messages, providing live status reports and generally comforting people. Most radio stations suspended or reduced music to and turned themselves into information points, help-lines and morale boosters all rolled into one. From feel-good stories of aunties distributing 'poha', biscuits and chai designed to bring cheer to wet commuters, FM stations served the need of the hour by giving timely transport bulletins. Radio Mirchi's strategy in the initial phase was to provide information and relieve anxiety by connecting people to their kith and kin, the CEO of Entertainment Network (ENIL), AP Parigi told ET. "We then brought information about the utility services - Reliance Energy's Mr Jalan, airlines, train services and mobile services - to keep people in the know. We even put the CM, Mr Vilasrao Deshmukh, on air to boost the rescue operations," Mr Parigi added. When there is no electricity, and when information on safety and health issues are to be relayed quickly, radio is the best medium, the Mirchi chief pointed out. Radio Mirchi is part of the Times of India Group. There were other instances of the impact of FM radio. A Honda City driver stuck in the swirling traffic rang in to 'Radio City' on Tuesday to give his location and car number to offer his car phone charger to those whose cell phone batteries had died out. Dozens of commuters listening in made their way to the good samaratan's car to bring their hand sets back to life! On Wednesday, when people were still stuck in the deluge, an RJ with FM station 'Go 92.5', cruised around the western suburbs, giving a running commentary on which roads and localities were still under water and how to avoid snarled junctions. Another RJ on the station kept reminding listeners in the cozy environs of their homes to help those in distress outside in the streets. Radio City suspended music and opened up 10 lines to take calls and relay messages crucial to people lost in the mayhem. In the first night of the swirling waters, Radio City received 10,000 calls from desperate and stranded commuters. Where television found it difficult to reach places and give live updates because of technical difficulty in reaching and transporting equipment, radio stepped in with round-the-clock commentary and updates that required just a phone line and the members of the public stepping in as 'reporters'. Most radio stations stations suspended or reduced music to a bare minimum and turned themselves into information points, help-lines and morale boosters all rolled into one. From feel-good stories of aunties distributing 'poha', biscuits and chai designed to bring cheer to wet commuters, FM stations served the need of the hour by giving timely public transport bulletins. By Thursday, the music was back. But the radio stations continued to remind listeners of the terrible 48 hours with real life story-telling of individual exploits and experiences (via Sajan Venniyoor via cr- india group via Alokesh Gupta, dx_india via DXLD) ** INDONESIA. VOI were also on 15136 July 8th 1600-2100. The transmitter site has 7 Marconi transmitters made in 1992/93 which they seem to use randomly; one is tuned 14 kHz down (Wolfgang Bueschel, Germany, August World DX Club Contact via DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM. Tracking Space Station & Discovery: http://gmaps.tommangan.us/spacecraft_tracking.html (via Lou Josephs` blog via DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL WATERS [non?]. BAHRAIN, CMF [Coalition Maritime Forces] Radio One, 9133 kHz bestaetigte mit einem undet. Brief in 87 Tagen. Den Bericht schickte ich an die Adresse: MARLO, PSC 451, Box 330, FPO AE 09834-2800, USA. Die Antwort kam von Department of the Navy, COMUSNAVCENT, Operations N3, FPO AE 09501-6008, USA. v/s war K.Auten, Captain US Navy-US. Naval Forces Central Command-Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations/Plans U.S. FIFTH Fleet (Patrick Robic-AUT, A-DX July 28 via BC-DX via DXLD) ** IRAN. Re Italian DX program: Pity Iranian listeners, who presumably are included in this DX programme`s dedication, can`t listen to whatever media they wish to due to jamming by the same authorities that are in charge of VOIRI. This would make the basis of an interesting discussion on the programme and I trust that they will have put in requests for an explanation of this (Mike Barraclough, England, August World DX Club Contact via DXLD) ** IRAN [non]. Radio Voice of Iran, 11575 at 1530 to 1639 UT fair in Persian and presumed via Sofia: 1330 UT a man spoke briefly, then a slow anthem by a band; mostly talking with occasional "Inja saydee . . . Radyo ..." and mentioning: Iranya; etc.; 1602 a man spoke with callers on the phone (Wendel Craighead, Bao Loc, Lam Dong, Vietnam, DXplorer July 29 via BCDX via DXLD) ** IVORY COAST. RADIODIFFUSION TÉLÉVISION IVOIRIENNE TOLD TO STOP OPPOSITION COVERAGE A group of armed, uniformed soldiers stormed the Abidjan offices of state broadcaster Radiodiffusion Télévision Ivoirienne (RTI) last Thursday, and instructed directors not to broadcast footage of opposition members, according to Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) sources and local news reports. The soldiers identified themselves as members of the Republican Guard but refused to give their names, the sources reported. A CPJ source said that the ban extended to members of a coalition of opposition parties and former rebels known as the G-7; to members of an alliance headed by opposition Rassemblement des Républicains (RDR) leader Alassane Ouattara and former president Henri Konan Bedié; and to Hamed Bakayoko, an RDR minister in the current power-sharing government. This week, Bakayoko requested that he be allowed to respond on national television to criticisms leveled against him by members of President Laurent Gbagbo's Front Populaire Ivoirien (FPI) party. It was unclear who had ordered the soldiers' action. In response, RTI's general manager, Kébé Yacouba, announced that RTI would bar coverage of all political parties, including the ruling FPI. "This move to censor the national broadcaster is outrageous," said CPJ Executive Director Ann Cooper. "RTI must act as a balanced and reliable source of information, especially in this period of political transition leading up to elections scheduled for October." The incident follows threats against private media and journalists by the pro-FPI Young Patriots militia, which harassed distributors and vendors, and forced the evacuations of some newspaper offices on Tuesday, July 26. A number of the newspapers and their journalists received threats that their headquarters would be burned down and their staff killed, according to CPJ sources. Ivory Coast has been divided between a rebel-held north and a government-held south since civil war broke out in 2002. Under the Pretoria peace agreement signed this April by parties to the conflict, RTI "must be used in favor of unity and national reconciliation." (Source: Committee to Protect Journalists) # posted by Andy @ 15:17 UT August 1 (Media Network blog via DXLD) ** JAMAICA [and non]. I use to tune at night while in San José, RJR Radio Jamaica on 720 from Kingston and occasionally 550 from Montego, makes its way. But a little more than 100 miles east what I experienced this time on the Caribbean coast is a different story: those 10 kW on 720 were really booming around 0530 July 31st, but not the same for the 5 kW outlet on 550. They had a live transmission with lots of their characteristic reggae music. When Radio Jamaica slightly faded, WGN from Chicago was heard with dialogues between M and F voices (Raúl Saavedra, Costa Rica, August 1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KASHMIR [non]. Clandestine: Voice of Jammu Kashmir Freedom 5102 kHz at 1336-1429* poor on 19 June; mostly talk with some Indian-sounding music; 1429* off suddenly. Radio Sedayee Kashmir, 6100 kHz at 1430-1530 good on 19 June and other days: 1430 a woman said "Radio Seday"; Indian pop music; talking with many mentions of Pakistan; 1530 off suddenly (Wendel Craighead, Bao Loc, Lam Dong, Vietnam, DXplorer July 29 via BCDX via DXLD) ** LAOS. Radio Nationale Lao, 6130 kHz good at 1038-1143 UT on June 12: mix of Lao traditional and pop music and men and women speaking in Lao, mentioning Lao many times. 7145 fair signal at 1323 to 1400* on June 12 and other days, but almost totally squeezed out by same VOA Special English program on 7140 and 7150: 1323 a man was speaking in French; 1331 A woman said, "... Our English language broadcast from 5:30 ... 7145 kHz. ... 97.5 MHz on FM."; news in English by a man; a woman interviewed a man about Kenya; 1400* transmitter went off (Wendel Craighead, Bao Loc, Lam Dong, Vietnam, DXplorer July 29 via BCDX via DXLD) ** LAOS [non]. Hmong Lao Radio, 15260 at 0103 to 0158* UT, excellent in Hmong via Taiwan: *0101 transmitter came on with an excerpt from Vivaldi's Four Seasons, probably not part of Hmong Lao program; 0103 brief Montagnard instrumental music and a man announced frequencies; some Asian vocal and instrumental music but mostly talking with many mentions of Lao, and also America, Vietnam, Hanoi, Kampuchea, etc.; 0158* transmitter went off (Wendel Craighead, Bao Loc, Lam Dong, Vietnam, DXplorer July 29 via BCDX via DXLD) ** LATVIA. We use our 9290 service at present just for special occasions and when clients pay for the service. There are a number of clients using 9290 around 14th August. We only use it for things like the Beach Party and other significant events now but are working on a bigger project for 9290 (Eric Wiltsher, RTI , Radio Caroline yahoo group via Mike Barraclough, August World DX Club Contact via DXLD) ** LIBYA. Como ya lo hemos anunciado en la radiodifusión en Onda Corta se van produciendo cambios importantes. Desapareció el programa ``La Gran Yamahiria`` y sólo se ha quedado la emisora ``La Voz del África``. Es bastante probable que ya no se utilicen transmisores en Francia sino únicamente tales emplazados en Libia. Algunas de las frecuencias libias tradicionales son: 11635, 15615, 15660, 17695, 21675, 21695 kilohercios entre otras. Las emisiones más estables son dos: una desde las 1300 hasta las 1400 horas en idioma inglés, frecuencias de 21675 y 21695 kilohercios, y la otra, desde las 1600 hasta las 1700 horas, en francés, frecuencia de 15660 y 17695 kilohercios. http://www.bnr.bg/RadioBulgaria (Por Rúmen Pankov, versión al español: Mijail Mijailov, R. Bulgaria DX via Dino Bloise, Florida, EEUU, dxldyg via DXLD) Rumen thinks these frequencies of V. of Africa are now from Libya itself, no longer relayed via France. Why? He is the only one to reach this conclusion (gh, DXLD) ** LIBYA [non]. Voice of Africa (Libya), presumably via Issoudun, France, heard on new 9590 kHz from around 1900 UT tune-in on 31 July 2005. Heard under R Romania Int 1900-2000, splash from 9585 kHz at 2000- 2055, then clear until 2157 when IBB Morocco came on with RL in Russian and wiped out all trace --- (perhaps Libya moved to 7320 at this point?). Arabic programming (although there may have been English/French whilst under Romania around 1920), clear ID and news in English at 2055 followed by French at 2100 and back into Arabic at 2105 until lost at 2157. Libya's tentative B-05 schedule in a recent BC-DX mentioned that they will be on 9590 kHz from 1700-1900 via Issoudun for that period (see below), so they seem to have moved here early, but for a longer duration. Planned Tentatively LBJ via ISS-TDF schedule in B-05. 9590 1700-1900 37,38W,46N ISS 500 185 Ar LBJ TDF No trace of the Radio Centrafrique relay from Issoudun, which was scheduled 1700-2300 on 9590, so presumably that has been discontinued (Tony Rogers, Birmingham - UK, AOR7030+/LW, BDXC-UK via DXLD) ** MEXICO [and non]. XEPE-1700 to business talk? The SD Union reported this weekend that XEPE (or XEKTT?)-1700 in Tecate will stop its alternating simulcasts of XEPRS-1090 and XEBCE-105.7 (mostly XEPRS) and switch to a business talk format in about 2 weeks. XETRA-690 is still "Fabulous 6-90, the lounge" (the old KLAC-570 format) and showing no signs of switching to Spanish as had been rumored a few months ago. 73, (Tim Hall, CA, August 1, ABDX via DXLD) That's because in the LA area there are no Standards formats on the air. They are serving a niche since Saul switched his AMs from that format to oldies. But XM and Sirius remain the only ways in this part of the state that you can hear the format in full stereo from those wide-panned "living stereo", "Hi-Fidelity" 1960's LPs. In technologically-advanced 2005, that's sad isn't it? (Darwin Long, ibid.) Just for the record, I believe Saul switched formats because KLAC switched to Standards. Since they had much better signal coverage in the LA area, everyone interested in that format started listening to KLAC. Saul switched to oldies because KLAC stole his audience and there was a gap on oldies coverage (Jay Heyl, ibid.) ** MYANMAR. Defence Forces Broadcasting Unit, 5770 kHz at 1330-1400 UT fair on June 17 and 20 and other days in presumed Bamar: 1330 UT on suddenly with Asian instrumental music; mostly Asian music. Myanmar Radio, 9731 kHz good at 0530 UT to very poor by 0700 on June 20: 0530 Bamar talk, with occasional mention of Myanmar, and pop music; 0544 chorus and band anthem; kids singing; vocal and instrumental Never On Sunday; 0700 a woman announced frequencies and said, "... our transmission ... the news read by ... first the headlines ..." and read international news, then Myanmar news which mostly concerned the opening of a new primary school; 0705 the woman said, "This news comes to you from Myanmar Radio ..." and spoke about U.S. astronauts, UN Environmental Agency; etc.; 0709 the woman gave the main points again; 0709 vocal and instrumental music; 0729 Myanmar instrumental theme music; 0730* transmitter went off. 5986 strong but almost covered by BBC on 5990 at 1426-1600 UT on 15 June: 1426 Asian music and Bamar announcements; 1430 3 different versions of Singin' In the Rain and other music, including bluegrass, with announcements by a woman; 1559 band anthem, 1600 UT silence (Wendel Craighead, Bao Loc, Lam Dong, Vietnam, DXplorer July 29 via BCDX via DXLD) ** NEW ZEALAND. RADIO NEW ZEALAND STAFF STAGE FURTHER WALKOUT Radio New Zealand staff, members of the Public Service Association (PSA) and the Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union, walked off the job this morning to protest a pay offer which they say is unacceptable. The strike forced Radio New Zealand to abandon its flagship Morning Report news programme and it instead broadcast a live feed from the BBC. According to PSA Organiser Brenden Sheehan, this has angered journalists at the BBC, who are are "condemning the use of their material during industrial action because it makes them effective strike breakers." The unions are seeking a 5 per cent pay rise and a one week increase to annual leave entitlement, which they say is in line with other recent settlements in the public sector in New Zealand. Radio New Zealand is offering a 3 per cent one year agreement, with no change to annual leave entitlement. Sheenan added that unless an "acceptable offer" is made by Radio New Zealand, further industrial action is planned for later this week. # posted by Andy @ 08:48 August 1 (Media Network blog via DXLD) MORNING STRIKE ACTION AT RADIO NZ Morning Report hosts Geoff Robinson (pictured) and Sean Plunkett stayed off the air today. File picture / Mark Mitchell 01.08.05 9.15am http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?objectID=10338554&msg=emaillink Industrial action stopped National Radio's Morning Report from going to air this morning. Radio New Zealand was forced to relay BBC programmes from 5 to 9 am after Morning Report staff stayed away. The same happened on Friday afternoon, when about 180 RNZ staff walked off the job during a stopwork meeting at the Public Service Association (PSA) building in Wellington, where a vote was passed to reject the state broadcaster's 3 per cent pay rise offer. That action prevented afternoon current affairs programme Checkpoint from going to air. Members of the Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union (EPMU) and the PSA are seeking a 5 per cent pay rise. Morning Report's regular presenters Sean Plunkett and Geoff Robinson were both union members, the EPMU said. About 30 staff picketed outside RNZ's central Wellington offices this morning. EPMU spokeswoman Rosalie Webster said the two unions had given RNZ no notice of today's strike action, however an RNZ spokesman told NZPA the broadcaster had been aware of it last night. Ms Webster said it was hoped the strike action would lead to further talks with RNZ management. The action included journalists, producers, technicians, librarians and other workers. The EPMU has claimed RNZ has "serious problems" attracting and retaining staff, especially senior people, and turnover is high because people can get jobs with more money and better hours elsewhere. Two years ago, the union had settled an agreement with a 3 per cent pay rise in the first year and a 2 per cent pay rise in the second year, and an "explicit" agreement that pay scales at RNZ would be addressed, Ms Webster said. However, that work had not been finished, and the workers were fast losing patience, she said. PSA assistant secretary Jeff Osborne said staff also wanted a one-week increase to annual leave entitlement. Members felt a responsibility to provide high quality and impartial general election coverage but that would be "severely compromised" if it became necessary to undertake industrial action, he said. - NZPA (via NZ Herald via Gerald T. Pollard, DXLD) ** NIGER [non]. Re 5-126: Hi Thorsten: My gratitude for your remarks on my listenings posted on DXLD-5125 on La Voix du Sahel. Well, I have to admit that I was based upon some Africa list from a German site but I erased their name and I just kept the information I needed. Surely that 9704 is unlikely Niger as I know that country is passing through a very difficult situation and nearly 100000 kids are starving, as we got news from BBC Latin American Service on our local Eco News, for which I'm the male newsreader http://www.radioeco.com at 1330 and 1800 UT (you're invited). So as you said, Ethiopia seems more likely to be what I heard, due to sign-on time also. And as you can see I'm no language expert, besides Hausa must be too different from Swahili. The bottom line is that "I was at the bat", like a Major League Baseball joke we have in Costa Rica when you're not sure of something: "Estás bateando". Regards (Raúl Saavedra, Costa Rica, August 1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NORTH AMERICA. 8000 kHz, Sycko Radio, 0107, AM, 31/Jul/2005 techno sounds and music and voice ID, very good signal on the R8A with antenna in different direction. Receivers used: Drake R8A and ICOM 706 mkIIG, Random wire antennas (Chuck Sayers, Harrisburg PA, swl at qth.net via DXLD) ** NORTH AMERICA. Ragnar Radio Posted at 22:02 on Aug 1, 2005 in hf and pirates. Tuesday, August 2, 2005, 0202, 6925 usb. A discussion about dual Johnson Valiants and a potential future broadcast on 1710 kHz and congrats to the Crystal Ship. Glenn Hauser's propagation forecast at 0205, ripped from a recent WOR. Contact given, ragnar radio at yahoo dot com. "Goodbye internet! Or is that good night?" Clips from pirate songs, e.g. Mojo Noxon, at 0208. Into an "ass kickin' tune" about radio, wifi and the internet, "heard it on the pod cast" at 0210. SIO 444, nice and strong here in Maryland. A review of the FRN forums at 0212. Glenn Hauser's World of Radio wrap up at 0221; the closing couple of minutes from WOR 1282. Brief mention of the Gulch's recent computer problems, including a blown up router and roasted ethernet cards and other foul jamba. Bummer. Off at 0227 (Larry Will, MD, RFMA via DXLD) BTW, here is a shot of Larry Will and Jane aboard the Katie: http://www.rfma.net/images/lw-and-jane-katie-summer-2005.jpg Above show sounds exactly like this one I heard, tnx to a tip from Artie Bigley, linked at http://www.dxprograms.net --- Pirates Week: http://www.dxprograms.net/piratesweek_07-31-05.m3u which has this website: http://piratesweek.tripod.com/ (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OKLAHOMA. KTWV Channel 9 reports that Paul Harvey can now be heard on WKY-930 (``one of our partners,`` KWTV says) weekdays at 7:30 a.m., noon and 5:30 p.m. The aired report suggested that Paul Harvey was physically joining the WKY staff! Whatever (John Norfolk, OKCOK, August 1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Guess HQ wanted him back on at noon instead of 10:35 am CT; wasn`t his previous home forever, KTOK 1000, reported to have moved him there to avoid clashing with Rush, or was it some other market? Advocating genocide, etc., is not a problem. As for KWTV partnering with WKY, we can only recall the good ole days when channel 4 was WKY-TV and they were bitter competitors. WKY were owned by Oklahoma Publishing Company, i.e. giganaire E. K. Gaylord with the Worst Newspaper in America, the monopolistic Daily Oklahoman. When they had to divest part of their media, OPUBCO got rid of the TV station, now KFOR-TV owned by a slightly better newspaper, the NY Times --- tho looking at the local news, you would hardly guess it. KWTV has never been co-owned with a radio station. Its partnership with Gaylord is extensive, starting with the joint website http://www.newsok.com (Glenn Hauser, Enid, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OMAN. Radio Sultanate of Oman, previously reactivated on 15140, English at 1400-1500, but the frequency was not heard when checked on 29th and 31st July (Mike Barraclough, UK, August World DX Club Contact via DXLD) ** PAKISTAN. News in English at 1600-1614 UT reported on 4790, 11570, 15100, 15725 kHz, not on announced 11850 kHz (Rumen Pankov, Bulgaria, wwdxc BC-DX July 30 via DXLD) ** PALAU. T8BZ, 15725 kHz excellent at 0856-1010 UT on June 15 and other days: 0856 UT a man sang We Got To All Get Together In Jesus' Name [same song every day]; 0858 a woman said, "Day la dai ..." and continued in Vietnamese with occasional hymns [this woman has a very distinctive and unusual voice]; 0958 a man said, "Welcome to Gospel Radio, 15725 kHz. Gospel Radio is dedicated to proclaiming The Word to all nations."; Christian program in English followed (Wendel Craighead, Bao Loc, Lam Dong, Vietnam, DXplorer July 29 via BCDX via DXLD) ** SAUDI ARABIA. New positions of the spurs in 13 m.b.: from 1410 UT program in Arabic on 21460 kHz, another in Arabic on 21505, 21460 and 21775 On 21600 kHz in French and mixing products were on 21560 and 21680 with both programs of 21640 and 21600. The formula seems to be 21680 - 21640, 21640 - 21600, 21600 - 21560 = 40 kHz difference. The signal on 21775 kHz is maybe spur: 21640 - 21505, 21775 - 21640 = 135 kHz (Rumen Pankov, Bulgaria, wwdxc BC-DX Aug 1 via DXLD) ** SLOVAKIA [and non]. RTI WANTS TO HEAR FROM YOU! Write or email RTI for a chance to win a trip to Aquacity Poprad, Riga, London – 01 August 2005: RADIO TATRAS INTERNATIONAL, RTI, is launching a special promotion for its listeners so they tell us what they want to hear on RTI – the unique pan-European radio station. Listeners from around Europe, via an on-air promotion, will be invited to nominate the three tracks they would like to hear on RTI. The nominations, together with a small amount of information about themselves, will all be placed into a free draw and the winner will WIN A TRIP TO AQUACITY. Eric Wiltsher, Director, RTI, commented: ``It is vital for any radio station to stay in tune with its listeners. Recently, we encouraged listeners from our first FM outlet to share what they wanted to hear on RTI – the results were amazing and very informative. Some of the views have already been combined into the recent changes to RTI’s musical output. ``Now we are going to extend that opportunity to listeners around Europe and with the help of our friends at AquaCity – two of our listeners, from anywhere in Europe, could be enjoying a stay at AquaCity, the No. 1 resort of its type in Europe``. Michal Brejcák, Managing Director AquaCity Poprad added: ``It is a great pleasure for us to support RTI, who are already a fantastic link between the High Tatras and Europe and we are looking forward to welcoming two of their listeners to AquaCity.`` Full details of the promotion will be aired during August. The lucky winners will be announced in September and the collated information will be made available to bona-fide media outlets at the same time. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- FOR MORE INFORMATION: AquaCity Poprad, Slovakia: Richard Hudák, E-mail: hudakr @ aquacity.sk or: tel.: +421 52 7851 555 http://www.aquacity.sk RTI Poprad, Slovakia: Natalia Balajova, E-mail: natalia @ rti.fm or: tel.: +421 52 787 1991 http://www.rti.fm ABOUT RADIO TATRAS INTERNATIONAL Ltd. (RTI) RTI with its studios in Poprad, London and Riga, is unique commercial radio in Slovak and English. On April 9th 2005 RTI started broadcasting from the High Tatras via FM (94.2 FM) and more recently from studio in Riga via 1350 FM. London provides a transmission hub for RTI including the on-line stream available from http://www.rti.fm RTI is also working towards being broadcast digitally around the world. RTI broadcasts a range of programming from Slovakia, the UK and shortly the USA. Nightimes on RTI are mainly provided by Radio Caroline. ABOUT AQUACITY POPRAD AQUACITY, POPRAD was opened on 3rd of July 2004 in the presence of the President and the Prime Minister of the Slovak Republic. It is the worlds`s most environmentally and socially positive resort. It uses advance environmental technology to harness the natural geothermal energy. Using geothermal energy allows AquaCity to provide the most luxurious health spa and aquapark at an affordable price, combining high quality services, relaxation and regeneration, crystal clear thermal water with healing properties and environmental protection. AquaCity offers accommodation in a modern three-star hotel with 96 beds and a conference room suitable for the organisation of conferences, trainings, and workshops. It is the only hotel in the world that has a true Olympic standard swimming pool. There is a choice of pools with thermal water with temperatures around 36-38 C open the whole year. Two of the favourite attractions are the Blue Diamond pool and Vital World which includes a collection of saunas - menthol, salt, Finnish, flower. There is also an ice cave where it really snows all year long! On the 10th of July 2005 the Slovak Prime Minister opened the astonishing Children’s water paradise – a complex of 3 pools with water slides and attractions that you can’t find anywhere else in the world. Aquacity Hotel is one of the 10 top hotels in Slovakia as shown by prestigious economic newspaper Trend (RTI August 1 via DXLD) ** SUDAN. SUDANESE MEDIA BEHAVIOUR REPORT Sudanese TV has began broadcasting a programme profiling Sudanese Vice-President John Garang, who went missing on Sunday evening (31 July) after a trip to Uganda. The programme is showing highlights from Garang's political life. The radio is continuing with normal programming. No solemn music was observed on both the radio and TV. BBC Monitoring is keeping an open speaker watch on both the radio and TV and will file any report/statement broadcast by these sources on priority precedence. Source: Sudan TV, Omdurman, in Arabic 0505 gmt 1 Aug 05 (via BBCM via DXLD) Later confirmed he was killed in a helicopter crash, setting off new violence (gh) ** TAIWAN. Truth for the World, 7220 kHz fair in Mandarin at 1400 UT on June 11 and several other days, but QRM from VOA on 7215 kHz made it mostly unreadable. 1400 came on with a man speaking and this continued until 1429 when he always gave what sounded like an address, "... R.A.C.E.I.A ... Post ... O.N.K. ... Taiwan ..."; 1430 UT silence. Program was the same every day, just the man talking and giving an address at 1429. Although the May WRTH Update lists this as a clandestine, Truth for the World's website calls it a mission work and gives addresses of the 2 churches [in Mexico, Missouri, and Duluth, Georgia, USA]. Of course churches have been known to produce clandestine-type programs: the anti-Guatemalan-government La Voz Popular in the 80s and 90s and more recently the anti-Vietnamese-government Chan Troi Moi/New Horizon which I heard in Vietnam on MW (Wendel Craighead, Bao Loc, Lam Dong, Vietnam, DXplorer July 29 via BCDX via DXLD) ** TAIWAN. Trans World Broadcasting Ministry on 11940 kHz fair in Mandarin at 1300 UT: 5 short tones plus one tone on a higher pitch; slow ballad-like Christian vocals and men and women spoke; 1356 a man mentioned Trans World several times; 1357 English hymn "... of the Lord."; 1400 transmitter off (Wendel Craighead, Bao Loc, Lam Dong, Vietnam, DXplorer July 29 via BCDX via DXLD) ** THAILAND. CHANNEL 11 TO BE REVAMPED AS THAILAND'S BBC | Text of report in English by Thai newspaper Bangkok Post on 29 July Television Channel 11 will be revamped as a public broadcasting service in the model of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and Japan's Nippon Hoso Kyokai (NHK). The station, which is run by the Public Relations Department, will move towards ''public participation and not corporate exploitation'', PM's Office Minister Suranand Vejjajiva announced yesterday [28 July]. ''The new-look Channel 11 in a nutshell will promote two-way communication, not top-down propaganda as some would believe. ''The channel or channels will continue to be non-profitable, but with better programmes and no government interference,'' he said. Mr Suranand, who is in charge of the PRD restructuring, said that Channel 11 had often been exploited by officials and politicians who wanted to get their personal agenda across to the masses. ''We now are aiming for a public broadcasting service like the British Broadcasting Corporation or Nippon Hoso Kyokai of Japan where programme schedules are open to outside influence and, if the production houses have what it takes, the board of directors will buy the programmes,'' he said. The Channel 11 revamp comes with a government plan to replace the PRD with a national public relations commission. The current departments and offices will be grouped into four independent units with freedom to investigate their own policies, what are to be called service department units (SDU) comprising Channel 11, the 147 radio stations, a news agency and the public relations development institute. Channel 11 and its 38 TV stations nationwide will see programming changed significantly under the plan. The transformation will also see an additional 30 satellite TV channels. ''The agency needs big changes. We will make it a 'state' channel that provides the public with information about the country, and also a 'learning' channel that teaches them,'' Mr Suranand said in June when he launched the plan. ''The quality of the programming must be improved and brought up to date with commercials containing only appropriate material.'' Mr Suranand said yesterday he would seek cabinet endorsement of the draft management proposal in September, with the launch planned for October. Ubonrat Siriyuvasak, a professor of mass communications at Chulalongkorn University appeared unimpressed. ''Let's be frank, the government only wants a reason to privatise a state organisation and make profits out if it, like it did with the Mass Communications Authority of Thailand,'' she said. ''Although SDU sounds good, the government still controls the board of directors making the new agencies still just the arms and legs of the government. ''There's enough state propaganda on television these days to last a lifetime. The new-look Channel 11 should be handed to the public and the public should be allowed to produce the programmes themselves with no strings attached.'' Ms Ubonrat urged the government to organise public hearings on the issue to gather more ideas and information before reaching a ''one-sided'' conclusion. Source: Bangkok Post in English 29 Jul 05 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** TIBET [non]. Voice of Tibet, 17520 via Tashkent on 2 June at 1430 UT in Tibetan until 1440* when it moved up to 17525 and switching to Mandarin at 1503: excellent on both frequencies and, surprisingly, no sign of jamming on this day so I don't know why they changed frequencies; 1518 silence. 17525 via Dushanbe 1301 in Tibetan until 1334, then Mandarin; 1349 transmitter off after Mandarin ID. Good signal but moderate Chinese traditional instrumental music jam most days (Wendel Craighead, Bao Loc, Lam Dong, Vietnam, DXplorer July 29 via BCDX via DXLD) ** U K. BBC MONITORING SERVICE STAFF BRACED FOR CUTBACKS Tara Conlan Monday August 1, 2005 8am MediaGuardian (London UK) http://media.guardian.co.uk/broadcast/story/0,7493,1539088,00.html BBC Monitoring staff are due to hear today the results of a Cabinet Office review of its funding One of the government's means of monitoring terrorists may face cutbacks today. BBC Monitoring listens to news and information from media around the globe, translating it into English and supplying it to the British government as well as to the BBC. It also passes on the information to other governments and media organisations around the world. However, BBC Monitoring staff are due to hear today the results of a Cabinet Office review of its funding. Insiders say staff at the department's main office, in Reading, and its overseas units are bracing themselves for the possibility of substantial job cuts They are calling for any compulsory redundancies not to come into force until at least July 2006. The cutbacks are not related to the plan by the director general, Mark Thompson, to axe 4,000 jobs across the BBC. BBC Monitoring is separate from the licence-fee funded part of the corporation. The bulk of its money comes from the Foreign Office, the Ministry of Defence and the Cabinet Office. BBC Monitoring scrutinises 3,000 sources ranging from official mouthpieces to rebel radio stations. It is an important source for Middle East analysts. Set up on the eve of the second world war to help Britain to track foreign propaganda, BBC Monitoring has been a mine of information during subsequent upheavals, including the cold war, the collapse of communism and more recent crises in the Middle East and the Balkans. It also played an important role in helping observers to keep track of developments during the disintegration of the Soviet Union. It employs around 1,000 staff, including freelances, and has six bureaux abroad. The director of BBC Monitoring, Chris Westcott, said he could not comment on the details of the review until he had unveiled it to staff (Guardian via Dan Say, DXLD) BBC MONITORING TO SUFFER AT LEAST 50 JOB CUTS BY SPRING 2007 Staff at BBC Monitoring have been told that there will be at least 50, and possibly as many as 80, job losses by spring 2007. This is despite the outcome of the government's spending review, announced today, that will see funding over the five years from 2006 to 2011 increase by an average of £1.8m annually from its current level of £22.1m. BBC Monitoring's Director, Chris Wescott, told staff he intends to push ahead with cost reductions and efficiency savings. It's not yet clear whether the job cuts will affect the 150 staff based overseas. A spokesman for BBC Monitoring said "The BBC welcomes the outcome of the recent Cabinet Office led review with its endorsement of the role and value of BBC Monitoring as a national and international resource of information on the media. The stability afforded by the review outcome will enable BBC Monitoring to focus on meeting the challenges of operating in a rapidly evolving global media environment." Separate funding arrangements for BBC Monitoring - from the Foreign Office, Cabinet Office, Ministry of Defence and the BBC itself - will be replaced by a single 'ring-fenced' fund agreed in advance by all the stakeholders. The Cabinet Office will replace the Foreign Office as the principal stakeholder. # posted by Andy @ 15:08 UT August 1 (Media Network blog via DXLD) ** U S A. NEW YORK VOLMET MISSING AGAIN A check on Aug. 1 UT, from the early hours, through midday shows New York Volmet off the air again on all four frequencies. Technical problems, funding problems, or is it gone for good? Gander, Shannon, and Honolulu all heard on regular schedule (Brock Whaley, Lilburn, GA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. An unexpected airing of gh's WoR was on WBCQ at 2330 Thursday 7/28/05 replacing "Uncle Ed's Musical Memories". Unknown if that program has been dropped or not -- unfortunately, that's one of the ones I recommended as worthwhile listening on domestic SWBCs. UT Saturday 0100 7/30/05 on WBCQ 5105 kHz -- not the listed repeat of Allan Weiner WorldWide but instead Good Friends Radio. That's in line with what Allan said last week about GFR taking over 5105 every evening. WBCQ's "Tom and Darryl" show on 7415 at 0400 UT Sundays has been wasting airtime and transmitter power by broadcasting very old repeat programs. At least they DO announce at the start that they will be a repeat, but the 7/31 one was from Aug '03. The person introducing this repeat DID say that there would be new programs coming up shortly; I believe he said that the hosts were coming back from travelling somewhere. Also, for what it's worth, this past weekend's DXing with Cumbre was a repeat of the previous week's #461. I *DID* hear a new Radio Weather, tho! (A rare event! :-) This one was on at 2330 UT Saturday 7/30/05 on 9495 and begins with a reference to "electromagnetic pulse" as a discussion topic. However, that's really sort of false advertising, since that topic is NOT addressed until the very end of the program, when Hembree states that this particular topic will be stretched over a series of four Radio Weather programs. Since new RWs come out so sporadically, I have no idea if this means that he really is planning on a new program coming out each week or not. That new RW was repeated 0030 UT Sunday 7/31/05 on 7315 kHz. Another topic included in this new RW was the BBC Charter. Note that the RW that was aired on WWCR at 0300 UT 7/31/05 was an old repeat, not this new one. By the way, that 9495 kHz airing is NOT listed on the schedule in the messages I'm replying to, but it was on this past weekend. Is that schedule supposed to be as of 1 August or what? 73, (Will Martin, MO, August 1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) It is there, but they have the wrong frequency listed! So I'll have to go over it again and double check with the frequency list (John Norfolk, ibid.) ** U S A. WBCQ Program Guide Anomalies and Recent Observations --- This page contains the latest observations and other unexplained or otherwise unscheduled things observed coming out of Monticello or related to WBCQ. http://www.zappahead.net/wbcq/anomaly.php Monday, August 1, 2005: Updated the 5105 schedule to reflect the departure of Radio Six International. Good Friends Radio Network is now daily from 2300 to 0400 on 5105, except for Saturday at 0200 when the Lost Discs Radio Show simulcasts from 7415. This schedule change also displaces the repeat of Allan Weiner Worldwide that was Friday at 0100. [that should be UT Sat --- gh] Removed The Overcomer Ministry from 17495; was daily from 1400 to 1700 (via John Norfolk, dxldyg via DXLD) Note that Radio Weather is usually heard during the Good Friends Radio Network block, at unspecified times (jn) ** U S A. Hi Glenn: We have updated our web page: http://www.wwrb.org Our programming sked is up to date and have updated our FAQ section with new information concerning 'in band' vs 'out of band' with other topics of interest to broadcasters. WWRB is in the process of sending out well over 700 letters of introduction to various Ministries all across America. When they read the WWRB FAQ section they will be well educated. An educated broadcaster is our best client (SM) (Dave Frantz, WWRB, August 1, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I read thru the entire updated FAQ, and have these comments. Perceived weakness of other stations such as WWCR (never identified as such) are attacked. Weaknesses of WWRB are ignored, such as the fact that transpolar SW signals are unreliable and often inaudible even if an antenna such as WWRB`s 340 rhombic or 360 degree curtain is used. Much is made of broadcasting in prime time in the target area, whether that is propagationally feasible or not, and coverage maps continue to indicate that WWRB can reach South Asia directly over the pole. ``To broadcast to Southeast Asia from a shortwave station located in the United States, a broadcast should be aired from approximately 4 AM to 9 AM Eastern Time. This is when the maximum number of listeners are home from work and other daily tasks and available as an audience (their prime time nighttime.) As an aside, it is our understanding that Radio Station WWRB and WYFR, located in Okeechobee, Florida, are the only radio stations located in the continental United States that have main lobe coverage to Southeast Asia. To reach Southeast Asia, we utilize our 340º rhombic antenna.`` WYFR has 315 and 355 degree antennas, but does not claim to reach SE Asia with them, just North America. I would very much like to see some independent signal reports of WWRB in SE Asia --- but don`t know of any actual transmissions, and that service is ``under development`` -- - will Dave carry out some actual tests? ``To broadcast to Australia / New Zealand and the South Pacific Islands from a shortwave station located in the United States, a broadcast should be aired from approximately 4 AM to 9 AM Eastern Time. This is when the maximum number of listeners are home from work and other daily tasks and available as an audience (their prime time nighttime.) As an aside, it is our understanding that Radio Station WWRB is the only radio station located in the continental United States that has nighttime path main lobe coverage to Australia / New Zealand and the South Pacific Islands, utilizing our 270º rhombic antenna`` WEWN has a 285 degree azimuth (producing the most horrendous signals here in OK), but which also aims into the Pacific during ``prime time``; official target is Mexico, even tho that azimuth runs just north of the border, including, from FCC A-05 listings: 5850 0500 1000 WEWN 500 285 10 1234567 170405 301005 5745 1000 1400 WEWN 500 285 10 1234567 270305 301005 From WWRB`s schedule pages we see that his long-promised major new client is Dove Media, supposed to start August 1: ``North America Service #3 seven days a week: All Times Eastern Standard [sic] Time and (UTC.) 07.00 PM - 01.00 AM (2300 – 0500 UTC) Frequency: 5.050 MHz --- This transmitter has been leased to Dove Media. Their broadcast begins August 1, 2005. 01.00 AM (0500 UTC): Close North America Service #3. At 12.00 PM (1600 UTC) their programming resumes on WWRB shortwave on the Africa Service on 15.250 MHz using our 090 rhombic antenna. Africa Service seven days a week: All Times Eastern Standard [sic] Time and (UTC.) 12.00 PM - 06.00 PM (1600 – 2200 UTC) Frequency: 15.250 MHz. This transmitter has been leased to Dove Media. Their broadcast begins August 1, 2005.`` No signal at all on 15250, even tho nearby WWCR was booming in on 15825, a mere backlobe with the help of sporadic E. What is Dove Media? Perhaps the Christian music production and promotion company in Houston at http://www.dovemedia.com where I find nothing about radio broadcasting tho Google search mentions a Dove Media as owning a radio station in Canyon TX. 11920 is now supposed to be carrying Brother Scare 1600-2200 on 45 degree antenna, except Sun 1500-2200 and Fri 1600-2200 when there is a series of other gospel huxters. Yes, confirmed August 1 at 2002 with a rather weak signal (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Re New TIS in Redmond, OR, AM 1610: Originally licensed as WQCV338, they changed calls to WQCY923 about 3 weeks later. You know how it goes, you get a new program director and they just have to change EVERYTHING... :) 73, (Tim Hall, CA, ABDX via DXLD) ** U S A. CHANGES PUT STRAIN ON WCPN --- ADJUSTING ON LOW END OF THE DIAL --- Public radio station struggling to adjust to partnership with WVIZ Sunday, July 31, 2005, Clint O'Connor, Plain Dealer Reporter On the eve of the biggest move in its history, WCPN FM/90.3, Cleveland's prestige radio station, is straining to maintain on-air quality while juggling a multitude of new projects, including raising mounds of money for its new building. As WCPN prepares to embrace the digital age in its new high-tech digs this fall - the sparkling $42 million Idea Center in Playhouse Square - the public station is still adjusting to its four-year marriage to WVIZ Channel 25, its partner in the nonprofit Ideastream. The marriage was intended to create a new kind of public-service company that presents news and information through its broadcast channels and Web sites. But WCPN is also losing talent. News director Dave Pignanelli jumped to rival WKSU FM/89.7. Reporter Shula Neuman fled for academia. Add to that the departure of former morning host April Baer in early 2004, and the station has gone, in only 18 months, from a standard- bearer for substantive local news to a staff-depleted operation struggling for a morning identity. . . http://www.cleveland.com/entertainment/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/entertainment/112280259370610.xml&coll=2&thispage=1 (via Jim Moats, DXLD) Story runs five pages, but sixth (and more?) missing. To get to page 2 you have to fill in personal info (gh) ** U S A. PAYOLA INVESTIGATION ROCKS RADIO There are some nervous programmers in NEW YORK, and around the country, awaiting the aftermath of the settlement between state attorney general Elliot Spitzer and Sony Music over payola charges. While Sony's $10 million payment, coupled with an assurance that it will change its practices, gets the company off the hook with Spitzer's office, the e-mails that Spitzer's office dug up as part of its investigation will likely lead to more investigations, both by the FCC and by some of the broadcasters accused of accepting payola. Among the stations whose call letters appeared in the e-mails were Boston's WXKS and WBCN (where Sony apparently paid for a staff dinner for former PD Oedipus), Albany's WFLY and WKKF (where Sony supplied a $1400 laptop to former PD Donny Michaels), Hartford's WKSS, Buffalo's WKSE (where PD Dave Universal was ousted earlier in the payola investigation, and where the e-mails suggest that even Sony was finding Universal excessively greedy) and Rochester's WPXY (where an e-mail from PD Mike Danger admits "i'm a whore this week. what can i say?") There's more, too - a giveaway in which DJs at Buffalo's WBLK, Rochester's WDKX and other urban stations were to be sent one Adidas sneaker, with the promise of the other one to follow if a certain rap song was played often enough. And Sony apparently paid staffers to call Lancaster's WLAN-FM and the syndicated "Open House Party" to request certain songs, a plan which was thwarted when the callers weren't sufficiently energetic to get on the air. NERW's Take: Nobody in the radio industry is likely to be terribly surprised by the contents of the Sony e-mails. Legal or not, such exchanges between record labels and radio stations have been common since long before the original payola investigations of the late 1950s. And as a former top 40 PD whose opinions we respect pointed out when the news broke last week, top 40 radio depends on communication between labels and stations to keep PDs and music directors apprised of what's new and what's coming. While there will no doubt be plenty of attempts by nervous stations and labels to restrict contact (especially, now, by e-mail) between programmers and promoters, such contacts can't - and shouldn't - be cut off completely. "There are degrees," says our PD friend, who points out that the investigations that are sure to get going now will likely ignore those nuances, just as the congressional inquiry in 1959 did. One could ask, also, whether such petty maneuvering (on both sides - many radio stations are just as guilty, in principle if not necessarily in the eyes of the law, of manipulating their playlists in exchange for favors) is really worth the effort that Spitzer and others have put into these investigations. After all, any radio station that deals excessive spins to songs that aren't popular on their own will inevitably begin losing listeners. Those listeners now have many options for finding new music that didn't exist in 1959, so it's not as though there's some sort of public interest obligation in playing an accurate list of the top 40 pop tunes. And, frankly, top 40 radio just doesn't seem as important in 2005 as it did in 1959. It bears noting that the radio formats that have garnered the most attention in the last year or two either play no current music ("Jack" and his friends) or no music at all (Air America and its progressive-talk brethren.) In any case, we don't expect much, if any change, to the sound of top 40 radio as the investigations proceed. It's still a mass-market, lowest-common-denominator medium, whether the record companies are paying for the airplay or not (Scott Fybush, NE Radio Watch August 1 via DXLD) ** U S A. Question: As well as I enjoyed WLAC 1510 from Nashville and KAAY "The Real Mighty 1090" from Little Rock in the mid 60s (must have been in between solar cycles) there was a station I used to listen to while visiting Puerto Limón whose jingle was "WLCY 1-38". I think it was in Tampa, but as a low power station it isn't shown even in a 1964 WRTH (which I heard announced over WRUL by then) I bought in a flea market. Can anyone tell me if still exists today? (Raúl Saavedra, Costa Rica, August 1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Raul, I remember WLCY, too, on 1380 in St. Petersburg; either hearing it or hearing about it. Now it`s WWMI with 5 kW, as it probably was way back then. The WLCY call now pertains to a 106.3 FM in Blairsville, PA. (Glenn, ibid.) ** U S A. Regarding KALT in Atlanta [TX] --- it's cooked. Stick a fork in it, it's done. The license is no longer valid as of July 24, 2004. They were silent and had one year to make it back on air, but didn't; what a shame. It would've been the only X Bander on 1610. How did Jimmy Swaggart ever get that? Incidentally, it's the sister to KPYN 900 in Atlanta which was just sold (Radio Fisher, Texas Radio-Info board via DXLD) ** U S A. NOW LOSES BILL MOYERS, KEEPS TASTE FOR FRICTION Originally published in Current, July 25, 2005 --- By Mike Janssen Much has changed this year on public TV`s Now, but not its starring role in the debate over balance in public broadcasting. The show relaunched in January with a slimmer half-hour format, a higher proportion of field reporting and, most notably, David Brancaccio hosting without Bill Moyers at his side. But this month CPB Chairman Ken Tomlinson again called Now `liberal advocacy journalism` before a Senate subcommittee. To Brancaccio, who joined the show as co-host in September 2003, the attention is refreshing. ``I`m glad somebody took notice of this little broadcast,`` he jokes. Despite the scrutiny, Now continues to cover hot-button issues, though in a manner more suited to its post-Moyers stage. It follows Americans caught up in the workings of government policies and economic forces, with fewer of the intellectual in-studio talks at which Moyers excelled . . . http://www.current.org/news/news0514now.shtml (Current via DXLD) ** U S A. Great minds think alike? Kicker story about Atkins Diet demise on ALL THREE network news shows August 1, and starting and ending with seconds of each other, 2256-2258 UT. I can tell this because I often fire up three TV sets at this time to pick which if any of the kickers I care to view (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Captain Gus update KENS-TV http://dennis52.home.texas.net/blast.html http://www.mysanantonio.com/opinion/columnists/pallen/stories/MYSA073105.5H.allen.1c27eb97.html (Artie Bigley, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. CURRENT TV : see CANADA [non] ** URUGUAY [non]. I doubt that R. Cimarrona is really back, despite appearance in the DTK/T-Systems schedule, but could those further east please check: Sun & Mon 2200-2300 UT on 9480. Nothing heard here July 31 around 2215, but no other significant signals making it from Europe either. Tnx, (Glenn, dxldyg during that Sunday hour, via DXLD) No replies, nor on Monday (Glenn Hauser, August 1, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VANUATU. Is putting in a good signal here in the morning and early evening local time on 7260 kHz, but the modulation is very variable and usually low. It is no better when they change to 3945 kHz around 0800 UT, good signal but low modulation! I am enjoying the ICOM R-75 receiver, it takes a bit of getting used to after the Yaesu FRG-7! (Barry Hartley, NZ, wwdxc BC-DX July 29 via BCDX Aug 2 via DXLD) ** VENEZUELA. Una escucha desde Cuba: Hola amigos diexistas: Ayer Domingo 31 de Julio entre las 5 y 7 de la tarde (hora de Cuba) 2100 a 2300 UT se abrió la propagación en la banda de la FM comercial y se captó la emisora venezolana: Radio Metrópolis, trasmitiendo desde Maracaibo en los 103.9. El programa en cuestión era "El Retrovisor" Dedicado a la música de los 70 y los 80. El locutor era José Javier Méndez. Creo que la distancia de Maracaibo a la Habana es bastante considerable y si vemos que fue en la FM la recepción, aún más todavía. ¡Ah!. Lo mejor del caso es que la señal fue captada con un radio Sony y solo su antena telescópica. Por su puesto, la señal era algo intermitente pero el estéreo era perfecto cuando subía la señal, algo que se mantenía con tremenda estabilidad. ¡Ojalá y sigan abiertas las condiciones de esa manera! (Alexis Castillo, Cuba, August 1, Noticias DX via DXLD) No doubt by sporadic E opening; Habana and Maracaibo at a suitable skip distance (gh, DXLD) ** VENEZUELA [and non]. TELESUR: LA NIÑA BONITA DE LA INTEGRACIÓN El pasado domingo 24 de julio fue un día histórico para América Latina y el mundo. Por primera vez el mal llamado ``patio trasero`` de Washington toma la iniciativa de hacer un contrapeso comunicacional a la estrategia propagandística imperialista. La creación de Telesur confirma, entre otros elementos, que Chávez es el único presidente del mundo que ha llevado a la realidad cada promesa hecha. La inquietud de tener un canal de televisión que mostrase las fortalezas y debilidades de nuestra subregión y aún más, que hiciera una lectura de nuestro universo latinoamericanista desde una perspectiva propia, ya es un sueño que se ha materializado. Gran emoción como latinoamericano sentí al ver cómo interactuaban colombianos, brasileños, argentinos, venezolanos y estadounidenses, entre otros, con conexiones vía satélite y con una fotografía de cada pedacito de tierra de este maravilloso continente. La magia de la integración se sentía en el aire; por tantos siglos separados por el colonialismo y el imperialismo, ya que a pesar de ser habitantes de una misma región nos mirábamos como extraños y algunas veces hasta como enemigos. El sueño de Bolívar ya ha dejado de ser una utopía y Telesur es una muestra palpable de ello. Y así como Bolívar y su proyecto fueron saboteados por el ``establishment`` estadounidense durante el siglo XIX, en pleno siglo XXI el Imperio enfila baterías contra el nacimiento de una organización que puede poner en peligro su monopolio informativo en la región. La hegemonía del modelo ideológico informativo ``estilo CNN``, ya tiene sus días contados con la aparición de Telesur. Y es que Estados Unidos no sólo exporta su ``American Way of Life`` a través de Hollywood y sus producciones cinematográficas; también la manipulación de la información es otra de las facetas del adoctrinamiento capitalista-consumista. Todo ello explica la reacción de la Cámara de los Representantes de Estados Unidos y la posterior aprobación de una enmienda para hacer frente al supuesto ``discurso antiimperialista`` de Telesur. No contentos con ``robar`` dinero del contribuyente estadounidense para financiar una ``basura comunicacional`` como Radio y TV Martí, que en teoría exporta la ``libertad-estilo-Gringolandia`` hacia Cuba, los congresistas norteamericanos pretenden sacarle más dinero al estadounidense ``de a pie`` para establecer otra ``máquina desperdiciadora de dólares`` y transmitir el mensaje ``evangelizador`` del consumismo capitalista a Venezuela. El miedo de los congresistas de la Cámara de Representantes es que Telesur provoque más resistencia de las masas populares latinoamericanas al modelo de desarrollo estadounidense, o peor aún, que dentro del propio Estados Unidos la gente empiece a tomar conciencia de que otra alternativa de desarrollo es posible. Sin embargo, así como es irreversible el impacto de Telesur en el actual desequilibrio informativo global, también será inevitable el día en que los movimientos sociales en Estados Unidos causen un cambio drástico dentro de las estructuras del Estado burgués y se ponga punto final a la locura del imperialismo yanqui. Telesur le quita el dominio exclusivo del procesamiento de la información al Norte y a las agencias de noticias dominadas por el sionismo internacional. Se crea un nuevo escenario comunicacional para combatir con la verdad y la objetividad la ``mercantilización`` y ``frivolización`` de la información propulsada por CNN y sus derivados. Telesur es el preludio de esa integración franca, plena y armoniosa, que irremediablemente enlazará a nuestros pueblos en la alfombra de la patria grande ansiada por Bolívar. En Telesur está la América que ya debemos empezar a construir (ADÁN GONZÁLEZ, Certificado de Locución: 26950, Catia La Mar, VENEZUELA, August 1, DX LISTENING DIGEST) You had me nodding there until your claim that news agencies are dominated by international Zionism. But I`m rather fond of the AWOL, whatever its defects. Other countries should try it before condemning it (Glenn Hauser, OK, DXLD) ** VIETNAM [non]. Chan Troi Moi/New Horizon 1503 kHz at 1329-1430 via Taiwan good in Vietnamese on 29 May and other days. Programming very similar to its SW broadcasts of 2002 and 2003, even to the frequent use of Mozart's Eine Kleine Nachtmusik and Beethoven's Symphony #5; opened and closed with "Day la dai Chan Troi Moi Vietnam" and instrumental anthem [but not Call to the Citizens which most clandestine-type broadcasters to Vietnam seem to use] at opening; mostly short talks with Vietnam mentioned many times in each segment and Chan Troi Moi mentioned several times; 1430 5 short tones followed by a longer tone on a higher pitch. I hope I can get a QSL for this MW logging. I have veries from a few hundred clandestine broadcasters, but I think only two of them are for medium wave: Radio Americas on 1165 and Radio Cuba Libre via WWL, New Orleans, on 870. Que Huong Radio, 15680 at 1200-1258 via Vladivostok good in Vietnamese on 10 June: 1200 chorus and band anthem Call to the Citizens; ID by a man "Day la dai Vietnam"; mostly talking; 1209 Call to the Citizens again; 1255 different anthem by choir & band. Degar Voice, 7350 kHz, good at 1304-1329* UT via Chita in presumed Klei Degar: 1304 a man was speaking, mentioning Degar [several times]; Hanoi; etc. 1320 the man said, "Degar Voice"; then unaccompanied Degar singing by a man; 1329* tone, then silence [18 June]. In my reception report to Kok Ksor, President of the Montagnard Foundation, I told about one of my Vietnamese friends taking me to the home of his friends for dinner with 7 Montagnard farmers and their families. I also mentioned that a Vietnamese friend gave me another Degar back basket which is similar to the one on the Degar Voice letterhead and the third one in my collection. I hope these personal notes help in getting a QSL (Wendel Craighead, Bao Loc, Lam Dong, Vietnam, DXplorer July 29 via BCDX via DXLD) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ DX-PEDITIONS ++++++++++++ WENDEL CRAIGHEAD IN BAO LOC, VIETNAM I recently returned from several weeks in Bao Loc, Vietnam. Bao Loc is in the mountains of Lam Dong Province and is 188 km northeast of Ho Chi Minh/Saigon or 112 km southwest of Dalat. I used the Yacht Boy 400 with a 15 ft. wire strung across my hotel room. It was a real pleasure to DX where the bands, even the tropical bands, were almost completely quiet. That was very different from the situation at my home location. Even though Bao Loc is a large city, there was very little noise, man-made or atmospheric, and on many days tropical band stations could be heard throughout much of the day. I checked recently-reported frequencies for Vietnamese regionals but heard nothing. On all my previous trips I heard a few of these and discovered they were usually on the air only for short periods of time. Many of the stations I really wanted to hear were covered by Chinese stations. Bhutan on 6035 kHz for example. My primary interest in DXing is clandestine broadcasters, so I concentrated on those, as well as some Asian and Pacific stations which are difficult or impossible to hear at my home in the center of North America. I am reporting a number of my loggings, with varying amounts of detail, and will report a few more in a day or two. Although some of the loggings are a bit old now, I hope they might still be of interest to some. See logs under BURMA [non], CHINA [and non], ERITREA [non], ETHIOPIA [non], IRAN [non], KASHMIR [non], LAOS [and non], MYANMAR, PALAU, TAIWAN, TIBET [non], VIETNAM [non] To summarize my listening experience in Vietnam, there was both good news and bad news. The good news: the bands are full of stations [more than I can ever hear at my home in Kansas, in spite of my more modest receiver and antenna in Vietnam]. The bad news: many of these stations are in China. But then, since China has half the world's population, maybe it's entitled to half the world's SW transmitters! (Wendel Craighead, Bao Loc, Lam Dong, Vietnam, DXplorer July 29 via BCDX via DXLD) PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ ANOTHER FIND RADIO STATIONS WEBSITE I've spent a bit of time working on (yet another) website to find radio stations using the FCC database. http://www.findradio.us/ In my opinion, Radio-Locator.com is by far the best site in this regards, though I'm doing a couple innovative things. Unfornately I don't have station formats, which is annoying because often there is only 1 radio station playing a format within E-Skip range. I also don't have website addresses. On the plus side, I used the Google Maps interface so that you can see where a station is. For many stations, you can use the satellite map, zoom in all the way, and actually see the antenna tower! I also converted Canadian postal codes into longitudes and latitudes. So Canadians can plug in a postal code and find all the stations within x miles of their location. *Request for Help* I want to create a function that would let users find everything within 1000 miles that is between 30 degrees and 32 degrees (or any distance, and any two degree values). The idea is that E-Skip and Tropo Ducts can be very directional, so it'd be nice to be able to search for stations by direction! I have the function that calculates distances between two points, but it's very complex (I copied it!) so I'm doubtful about my ability to transform it so that it would just take a slice of the pie, instead of getting the whole circle. Any ideas? Also if anyone has any good ideas for additional ways in which I could use Google Maps for either this directory or another DXer related project, let me know as it's fairly easy and a lot of fun. Peace, (Aaron Kreider, Aug 1, AMFMTVDX mailing list via DXLD) HISTORIC BILL HALLIGAN DVD AND CDs Only the first 100 copies of the special historical Halligan video on DVD and the first 100 two-CD set of rare audio interviews of Bill, Hallicrafters Engineer Fritz Franke and much much more, (write me for complete details of contents) will be certified! All advance orders must be pre-paid. All copies, certified and not, will ship in September. The DVD and two CD set postpaid is $43, postage varies depending on the country. (The contents of the DVD and the two CD set are 'totally' different!) (Duane Fischer, W8DBF NCS: Hallicrafters Collectors International netcontrol@w9wze.org HCI Web Site: http://www.w9wze.org swl at qth.net via DXLD) ****Pacific Radio News**** ****August 2005**** ---------------------------------------------- Wellington, New Zealand No. 3 1. Welcome to our growing number of readers this month, especially in Hawaii. Read on for more about how you can help our Art of Radio (c) Hawaii project. The Art of Radio (c) series are now the most popular of all stories at http://www.radioheritage.net and we're expanding the series as fast as resources allow. 2. New stories already on-line include the amazing life of Pedro González, a former Mexican bandit who became one of the greatest Tejano music stars in California, and his early days at KELW Burbank. You can also buy his CD of 1930's music classics from the link in the story. 3. Another new story is that of the tiny community radio station at London, on Christmas Island in the central Pacific. Radio Christmas Island was built with an aid program several years ago, and Ron Ehrke who built the station tells us firsthand how it was done. --------------------------------------------------------------------- The Top 5 books for July at The Emporium Radio Heritage Store (c) on-line Top 40 Radio Book List are 1. The ARRL Handbook 2. Border Radio 3. Ham Radio for Dummies 4. Raised on Radio 5. Old Time Radio! Restoration and Repair. Every sale helps fund our activities. --------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. The content on the home page is now being refreshed every few days, so keep the site bookmarked and visit often to keep up with new stories, photos and more. Headlining the month are a series of photos from WXLG Kwajalein taken in 1945 and proving that 'sharing the memories' can go back a long way. 5. Other new items include the easy to use story index, the Top 10 stories of the month [latest now on-line], an update for the massive 4000+ station Pacific-Asian Log and a bright new logo so you can't miss it....and, birthday greetings to 3BA Ballarat in Australia and the 60th anniversary of the opening day of AKAA Radio in Japan in 1945. 6. More Australian birthday wishes this month for the ABC's 7NT in Tasmania [70 years on the air], 4AK Oakey in Queensland [also a young 70], 5AD Adelaide in South Australia came on air 75 years ago, as did 7HO Hobart in Tasmania and 4BC Brisbane in Queensland. The oldest birthday is octogenarian 4GR Toowoomba in Queensland, celebrating 80 years on air in August 2005. --------------------------------------------------------------------- The number of visitors to http://www.radioheritage.net continues to grow rapidly, 15,000 visitors since going live at Christmas 2004, and some 220,000 hits, with visitors from 65 countries. Tell your friends! --------------------------------------------------------------------- 7. The Emporium Radio Heritage Store (c) went live during the month. We have the Top 40 Radio book List and a range of gift packages to help raise funds for the project, as well as a growing number of other recommended books and CDs. The Book of the Month for August is 'The Cash Cage' by Corey Deitz, an insider's look at the life of a DJ by this top rating veteran of US radio. 8. Coming down the pipeline are a trilogy of stories about WVTR in Tokyo, and a special note from the guy who wrote the original script about the Japanese Sea Monster that terrorized Tokyo in 1947. As the whole 'Godzilla' phenomenon from Japan was based on this broadcast, you'll want to check http://www.radioheritage.net for this item! 9. We need logos and letterheads from contemporary and now silent Hawaiian AM and FM radio stations! We've got a number of old time logos in some of our collections already, but to do justice to the Art of Radio (c) Hawaii, we'd like more. You can send them via snailmail to PO Box 14339, Wellington, New Zealand or via email to info@radioheritage.net. There's a wealth of beauty in much of this radio art, and we'd like to share it. Mahalo and thanks. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Still to come on-line in the next little while are the second series of Long Lost Australian Radio Stars with 3MA Mildura, 5DN Adelaide and 7LA Launceston. We've also picked the third series already, and that covers 2HR Newcastle, 3CV Maryborough and 4WK Warwick. Check http://www.radioheritage.net regularly for these stories. --------------------------------------------------------------------- 10. Thanks to the volunteers around the Pacific who're helping collect information about stations for us, others who are scanning magazines for radio station adverts to add to our image collection, others who have contacted us with stories, airchecks, video footage and more, and yet others who've volunteered to write stories about their stations for us. A special thanks to Bruce Carty of Radio Yesteryear in Australia for a detailed list of all Australian radio stations since 1919! 11. More stories coming soon include Radio in Afghanistan [1970's], Armed Forces Radio in China-Burma-India during WWII, a detailed listing of early Australian AM radio [1919-1929] and New Zealand AM @ a Glance [currently being formatted for the site], a photo gallery of WVUG Alaska in 1945, and a range of stories about Tokyo Rose, Manila Rose, Zero Hour, Japanese Occupation Radio Shonan and much more... 12. We have an interesting project we'd like some volunteers to help us out with. It's a Shortwave Radio Guide to Asia and the Pacific, and is basically a shortwave version of the existing AM PAL Guide. If you can help research data on-line, co-ordinate material etc, we'd like to hear from you. You can be anywhere in the world! Write to info @ radioheritage.net and we'll get back to you with more details. --------------------------------------------------------------------- We're a registered non-profit organization and your support is helping this Pacific-wide project grow. You can now buy gift packages at The Emporium Radio HeritageStore (c) towards research time, software and storage materials, and all purchases from the Top 40 Radio Book List help us raise funds. We have no financial support from any government or broadcaster. You can help us today. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Warmest regards to all our readers, supporters and volunteers. Thank you for helping make it happen! Please tell your friends, colleagues and others interested in radio about us. Visit http://www.radioheritage.net (David Ricquish, Chairman, Radio Heritage Foundation, August 1, DX LISTENING DIGEST) TV GUIDE, 1953-2005 It's been many years since good ol' TV Guide got the media attention it received with last week's announcement that it will cease publication in its current incarnation in October, eliminating local listings and becoming a full-size glossy entertainment magazine. The move doesn't really come as a surprise to anyone who's been following the slow and sad decline of what was once an American institution. In the last few years, TV Guide appeared to have come unhinged over what it perceived as the threat of online listings and the profusion of new cable listings. A particularly ill-conceived redesign last year consolidated many local editions into nearly useless regional versions, in the process eliminating useful features such as overnight listings and even a guide to which channels were listed. (Here in Rochester, we now get a "Western New York Edition" that lists everything from Syracuse to Erie, Pennsylvania, with no guidance to the uninitiated reader as to whether they can actually receive most of the channels listed.) It clearly didn't take TVG long to figure out that the changes weren't working; at the end, subscribers were being offered rates as low as 25 cents an issue (against cover prices of $2.49 or more at the diminishing number of newsstands and supermarkets where the magazine was still sold), and some reported continuing to be sent the magazine even after explicitly cancelling it. The new TV Guide, such as it is, will apparently eliminate much of the padded subscription numbers (including the generic editions that were being sent free to hotel rooms coast to coast), cutting circulation by about two-thirds, and it appears from here that it will be at best a shell of its former self. The shame of it is, TVG didn't really have to die. Ask any newspaper editor what feature draws the most complaints when it's changed or diminished, and the invariable answers will include comics, sports listings and the weekend TV book. There's clearly a demand for a compact print publication that provides reasonably comprehensive listings, if not for every channel on a 500-channel system, then at least for the top 70 or so. And NERW thinks that a TVG that retained some of the editorial flair that once distinguished it - interesting articles that exposed readers to more of the inside nuances of the TV industry, as opposed to the shallow celebrity profiles of recent years - could still draw readers today. No, TV Guide was never going to return to the glory years when it was the top-selling magazine in America, but it didn't have to die like this, either (Scott Fybush, NE Radio Watch August 1 via DXLD) RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ ARE/WERE THERE RADIO TOWERS BUILT OF WOOD IN USA/CANADA? As one can read on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lattice_tower there were in earlier times many radio towers built of wood in Germany. The only remaining towers of these is the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_Tower_Gliwice (Webmaster please activate) in the nowadays Polish town Gliwice. Because in the USA and Canada even powerlines for 345 kV are mounted on transmission towers built of wood (this is not common in Europe at all) there is the possibility that there are or were radio towers built of wood in the USA and Canada. Are or were there such towers? If yes, where? (obelixx, Germany, LW Message Board via DXLD) There were such towers in the 1920s and 1930s in several places. Most were not very tall by modern standards, and supported the topload span of T aerials. I started working in broadcasting in the Sixties, and I remember reading about one station that was supposedly the last in North America to use a wooden mast to support a vertical wire radiator. They were preparing to replace it with a conventional steel tower at the time. There are some broadcast history sites on the Web which have additional details. Try a Google search using these keywords (including the quotation marks as shown): "wooden tower" radio broadcasting (John Davis, ibid.) I recommend: http://www.swedeart.com/sm5hua/html/antennas.html http://hawkins.pair.com/blaw-knox.html#Blaw-Knox%20Ads http://broadcastpioneers.50megs.com/tower.html http://www.wdrcobg.com/history.html http://www.co.martin.mn.us/mchs/pages/art_kfvn.htm http://www.broadcasting-history.ca/listings_and_histories/radio/histories.php?id=858&historyID=548 (Klaus, ibid.) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ SPORADIC E OPENING TO CHANNEL 7 Major TX-MI Es opening --- Typical sunset Es between 8 pm and 12 am (never get much other than sunset Es here) [EDT, July 31] Looked like my TV took a few hits off the bong tonight. Airwaves were a mess - biggest opening here that I've seen since last year's July 6- 7th opening and one of the VERY few times I've ever reached Es on Channel 7. FM was limited to mostly specific frequencies only yet some such as 106.1 and 92.9 were up to 6+ deep it appeared switching practically by the second from urban to Spanish to classical in a blink of an eye [. . .] 02 KBEJ UPN San Antonio (with KENS promos) 02 KACV NBC Amarillo 02 KPRC NBC Houston 03 WEAR ABC Pensacola FL 03 KSAN NBC San Ángelo 04 KDFW FOX Dallas (local-like) 04 WOAI NBC San Antonio 04 KGBT CBS Harlingen 05 KENS CBS San Antonio 05 KXAS NBC Dallas 06 KIDY FOX San Ángelo 06 KRIS NBC Corpus Christi (excellent) 07 KTBC FOX Austin (in/out, "Best in Texas" car ad) (Chris Kadlec, Fremont, Michigan, amfmtvdx at qth.net via DXLD) TIPS FOR RATIONAL LIVING ++++++++++++++++++++++++ AMERICA'S BIG MALIGNANT TUMOR - LIBS ARE SALIVATING THAT KARL ROVE MIGHT GO DOWN. BUT HASN'T THE WORST CANCER ALREADY SPREAD? Mark Morford, SF Gate, 07/20/05 It's almost too good to be true. It's almost like you can't hardly believe it and it feels like it must be a nasty trick, a scam, some sexy lithe European fashion model smiling all coy and flirty as she offers you her thong underwear only to yank it away just as you reach for it as she instantly turns back into a hairy incubus and dashes away, cackling. Ohpleaseohpleaseohplease ... yank. And maybe, if you're like me, deep inside your cynical Bush-ravaged heart you already know it won't actually happen, because no way is the world aligned correctly right now and no way is there any true justice happening anywhere near the White House right now, and what's more, the man in question is perhaps the slipperiest and sweatiest and most powerful adviser of a major world leader since an invisible purple demon hissed sweet nothings into Mussolini's ear, and therefore if anyone could finagle his way into remaining Grand Overlord Puppetmaster for as long as he damn well pleases, it's Karl Rove. . . http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2005/07/20/notes072005.DTL&hw=Rove&sn=003&sc=929 (via Tom Bryant, WTFDA Soundoff via DXLD) ###